New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The son of a founder of the Palestinian militant group , Hamas , Tuesday told CNN that he was a spy for Israel .

For 10 years , Mosab Yousef said he gathered information about Hamas terrorist plots and fed them to Israel 's domestic security service Shin Bet .

Yousef , in an exclusive interview with CNN 's Christiane Amanpour , said he did it because he came to believe that Hamas was practicing `` exceptional cruelty '' against its members and `` killed people for no reason . ''

He has now written a book , `` Son of Hamas '' detailing his exploits from his new base in the United States where he has lived since 2007 . CNN could not independently confirm his story and Israel has refused to comment .

In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , a former Israeli handler said of Yousef : `` One insight of his was worth 1,000 hours of thought by top experts . ''

Yousef told CNN : `` They offered me to work for them . My goal was to be a double agent and attack them from the inside . ''

But then his views changed . Watch the full interview here

`` After I was tortured by Shin Bet I was transferred to prison -LSB- where -RSB- Hamas tortured Hamas members and I became confused who was really my enemy ... I accepted to meet Shin Bet . ''

Yousef said he agreed to spy on Hamas and that his decision was partly a moral one . `` My people did not understand this . Shin Bet is committed to a constitution but Hamas targets civilians . There 's a difference between targeting a terrorist and civilians . ''

He said that in part his transformation was due to spiritual reasons . `` Later on , I became a Christian , during that time , the first few months , and I was convinced by the principle of loving your enemies . And I saw that my enemy , who I thought that they were my enemies , they had morality , they had their responsibilities more than my own people . ''

He added : `` As a Shin Bet agent , when I had information I helped arrest people , otherwise they hit randomly . When I specified a particular person I had a condition - not to kill that person ...

`` In 10 years working for Shin Bet I am not responsible for killing one terrorist . I care about my people , my problem was their -LSB- Hamas ' -RSB- ideology .

His father , Sheikh Yousef , is serving time in an Israeli prison . He recently wrote a letter from jail saying that the whole family `` inclusively and exhaustively denounce our eldest son . ''

An attorney for the elder Yousef obtained a statement last week from the father saying Hamas knew of his son 's contact with Israeli intelligence and adding that he `` was not on any day an active member in the ranks of Hamas . ''

Asked if he feels in danger because of what he 's done , Yousef says he is not afraid . `` Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a human being , physical death . The worst , spiritual and soul death . This is what really scares me . ''

The Israeli government , including Shin Bet , has not offered CNN official comment , and his family has broadly denied his story . But an intelligence source told Amanpour that the core claims are true , this is a `` modus operandi of how Israeli agents work , '' to penetrate the opposite side , to try to get as much information as possible .

But the source added some of the high profile claims of thwarting terrorism or helping with high-level captures are `` gross exaggerations . ''

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The son of a Hamas leader says he spied for Israel for 10 years

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Mosab Yousef told CNN he saved Palestinian and Israeli lives

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He said : I care about my people , my problem was their ideology

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Israel has not commented in his story